August Surgery buddies

[Hiddenroses 85]

Hello again everyone! I'll start by saying I'm sorry it takes me so long to post my responses. This is because while I do skim posts from my phone, especially when I see an email that has me tagged I find it so much easier to type and properly respond from my desktop computer. So - If I 'Like' a post' just know I'll likely later mention something in one of my long summarized posts, like this one!

Yesterday was exhausting for me; I slept poorly Tuesday night due to heartburn and tenderness on the left hand side. I did get a few things done yesterday, though, including making it to Walmart finally to get my returns processed. I'm not sure why I thought I'd need extra bandages and such after my surgery, but I didn't. That said, after reviewing the cost of canned Soups and canned chicken, I decided just to buy a rotisserie chicken! Honestly, that's proven to be easier and more economical because after deboning it there is plenty of flavorful chicken to either puree into chicken salad or puree with chicken broth and some canned peas/carrots as a kind of 'no noodle' soup!

I also had a ridiculous epiphany this morning - cooking and straining our fruits BEFORE mixing them with yogurt or ricotta works WAY BETTER! This should have been obvious but in my addled mind I've been either 'peeling' the strawberries, or like this morning I thought I'd put the whole blueberry yogurt smoothie through the metal screen to strain and hey - that worked POORLY! Lol - silly the illogical things we do at times, eh? Or maybe it's just me, idk!

Oh - I ALSO realized yesterday evening, when I had basically zero energy nor desire to mess with dinner but still was far short of my Protein goal that I hadn't started taking the collagen yet that I bought to help my hair, skin, and nails. Lo and behold when I scoped it out (I ordered Nature Target Multi-Collagen Peptides from Amazon) that one scoop DOES have 9g of Protein! I truly felt like I was cheating the system when I poured a scoop in about 4oz of Gatorade Zero, Orange and called that my dinner.

I'm not sure what caused me to sleep better last night - the fact that I held/hugged a pillow ( Thank you again @draikaina8503 for mentioning the pillow your nursing staff gave you!) against my left side during most movements throughout the day, the fact that I was extremely tired, the relief from hearing from my doctor's office, or just time and healing in general) but I DID sleep well and today has gone more smoothly for me. As of today I'm 17 days post op, about a 1/4 of the way into my two weeks of puree diet.

@ShoppGirl - I haven't noticed about white spots on the tongue after different types of protein drinks because I've been really aware of any 'filmy texture' so rinse my mouth after each meal, but I do feel like the Ensure is thicker and takes more effort for me to rinse after drinking. Thanks for mentioning the Protein Water! I'm going to look into that to see if it will help me meet my protein goal of 60g/day.

@draikaina8503 - I haven't noticed much as far as skin sensitivity goes although my bruises from where they stuck me have taken an AGE to heal! I've been worried about you and hope that the incident with your doggo didn't leave you with any lasting damage (I may see a post about that later as I read). Are you taking Collagen Peptides by chance? I noticed one of the Youtubers who documented their own surgery journey dealt with breakouts afterward while taking Collagen and wondered if maybe it was impurities being purged from their skin as a result of the Collagen itself. If not I'd definitely mention it to your surgeon and double check (not that I think you'd miss anything since you seem VERY thorough) that some ingredient you're intolerant to hasn't snuck its way into your routine.

Update: Oh good, I'm glad you got some reassurance from your physician's office. Wow - congratulations on the return to school! The start date is rolling right up, isn't it?! Yeah, timing - eesh - I feel ya! Best of luck in finding a comfortable position in which to do your course work, and the energy to tackle everything at once! So far though it looks like you're nailing it and no reason to think that success won't keep right on coming!

Oh - and yeah, I guess I AM blessed to have been given this little bottle of Hibiclens! I had noticed that there was one of those tubs in my hospital room when I got ready to check out and there was another bottle of it in there as well as a couple of 'No rinse' Shampoo caps. I snagged everything out of it - figured if my insurance was paying for it, I was gonna grab it for possible later use! I wish I could hand you this extra bottle, honestly!

@Pepper_No_Salt - Wow; goodness! Yeah; honestly it sounds like you're doing way too much! I'm only just now starting to feel up to helping load the dishwasher, and today I managed to slowly sort through the clothing in my chest of drawers for size/quality of condition. Even then, I had to have my fella open the drawers for me because it's older and they stick a bit, plus pulling anything makes me tender, much less bending and pulling at the same time! I can't IMAGINE trying to tackle everything you just listed at this stage.

I know we all heal at different rates but my surgeon's office told me yesterday that the pain *I* have been mainly experiencing, a pulling/tugging on my left side, can take up to a month or two to recover from. She said to remember that despite how the surface appears to have healed that there is a LOT of repair and healing happening internally. She also said that as frustrating as it is to just try to be patient with myself because the body is adjusting in a lot of ways between not getting hardly any carbs, learning to get its energy from different sources, i.e. stored fat, processing our intake of protein/water differently, and literally healing multiple organs (for me, SADI, intestines and stomach from the sleeve portion) and that takes a lot out of a person.

@Justarwaxx - Oh my goodness, that sounds VERY anxiety inducing! This is your body and your journey, I absolutely suggest contacting your surgeon's office to see if they can send you some kind of guideline on what to be doing at your different stages. Also, I will be honest - that sounds like a lot of calories to be intaking during your liquid diet and I can't help but wonder if you're drinking maybe the wrong particular Protein Shake? I don't say that because I think you SHOULD worry about calories specifically but you DO need to worry about sugar intake. I got tripped up because my surgeon's team gave me a booklet guide for the whole process and I'm not supposed to drink any Protein Shakes that have less than 15g of Protein and more than 5g of sugar. The protein shakes are deceptive as heck, though!

Example: The off brand Equate ones I got are Max Protein with 30g of Protein and less than 1g of sugar, and one time I accidentally bought their Protein Plus which had 20g of sugar in each one! They tasted great - but at the cost of all that sugar it was a hard pass!

Also if you are drinking regular Gatorade or Powerade I could see that being a factor; I'm on Zero Sugar for my non-protein beverages. I can totally see how you'd feel at a loss - I spent 10 months working up to my surgery (because I had to quit smoking, etc) and I still feel like I'm winging it. If your surgeon's team didn't mention it, I will - there is an app called Baritastic that is free on the Google Play Store. You can scan the items you intake or search them on the 'Food Log' and it usually pulls up the correct information and lets you put what percent of the listed serving size you consumed. I do suggest checking at least one time to make sure it's pulling up the correct information that matches the Nutrition Facts listed on the item. After that it will be recorded in your 'Recent' list and you can just choose it easily that way.

Baritastic also has a built in Timer for 30 minutes you can use to track when you stop drinking and can start drinking after a meal - once you're past the liquid stage and move on to meals that's pretty important across the board as far as I know. The 'No drinking 30 minutes before, during, or after a meal' is important because due to the adjusted size of your stomach it can only fit a certain amount, and you could get overly full of Water before or after a meal otherwise, leading to you being sick to your stomach or feeling miserable overall.

Honestly, I've been setting a timer when I sit down at my computer as well so I don't get absorbed in what I'm doing and sit for too long. That's been helpful! Best of healing and well wishes to you all - Oh, finally updated my ticker but bummed I can't put 'SADI' as my surgery type. Oh well!

Adding: The Finch App continues to help me navigate these waters, big time. I open my free Finch app (Also on the Google Play App store) more often then I open Facebook or any social media. Taking care of that silly cute cartoon bird and getting rewarded for taking care of MY personal business is such a benefit to someone like me who is almost certainly ADHD/Autistic at some level. I even use it to remind me to log my food/liquid intake in Baritastic. OH and I did make solid contact with the testing center I've been on a wait list with - looks like I'll at least be able to get in to a counselor soon, though I'm still on the wait list for actual Autism testing.

Ok - that's all for now!

Edited August 22 by Hiddenroses

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

@Hiddenroses you may want to double check about the peas. They were specifically mentioned no peas or corn in my book for the purée stage. I think it has to do with the shell. Also, I didn’t ask this time so research may have changed but when I got the sleeve 3.5 Years ago I asked about the collagen and was told it was fine to take it but not to count the Protein towards my goal because they really didn’t have enough information to prove that The protein content was accurate.

Edited August 22 by ShoppGirl

[Hiddenroses 85]

1 hour ago, ShoppGirl said:

@Hiddenroses you may want to double check about the peas. They were specifically mentioned no peas or corn in my book for the purée stage. I think it has to do with the shell. Also, I didn’t ask this time so research may have changed but when I got the sleeve 3.5 Years ago I asked about the collagen and was told it was fine to take it but not to count the Protein towards my goal because they really didn’t have enough information to prove that The Protein content was accurate.

Oh yeah -- good thing I only made the one serving of the 'soup' that way lol - I'll stick to just carrots for the next batch! Thanks for the tip! I took a look and my nutritionist didn't exclude the collagen from my protein count - and the one I got is very detailed on the packaging that the protein comes from like, egg shell, egg white, and a couple types of fish. I'm just winging it on my protein until my GENEPRO gets here tomorrow, mainly. I'm sure that will help a LOT toward my goals.

Also @RRenaeL23 - A mile and a half?? You are rocking it! Also, seeing as how you mentioned the VA - thank you for your service!

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

Allright if anyone was curious the food processor did work to make the spices way smaller. I went ahead and mixed them in before I heated up my refried Beans so that they could get mushy too. The taste is of course way better now.

[Pepper_No_Salt 40]

Today was my in-person post-op visit! I got officially cleared for full fluids. I can even have cream Soups if I puree any chunks inside (like cheddar broccoli). Next week, I have a dietitian appointment and hope to be moved to soft foods. I can't wait for chicken salad and refried beans!

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

15 minutes ago, Pepper_No_Salt said:

Today was my in-person post-op visit! I got officially cleared for full fluids. I can even have cream Soups if I puree any chunks inside (like cheddar broccoli). Next week, I have a dietitian appointment and hope to be moved to soft foods. I can't wait for chicken salad and refried beans!

Glad to hear you got cleared for full liquids. If I was allowed to do that with the chunks I wasn’t told. They just said specifically cream of chicken and to strain out the chunks. I’m sure it will be a little easier with some variety at least. I get to do soft foods starting the 2nd. I remember that stage making me pretty anxious with my sleeve. I think it will be even worse this time without the stomach part to slow me down. Anyways, hang in there. It goes surprisingly quick.

[Greekmom4 31]

@ShoppGirl I used mild salsa in my refried Beans. One can beans and 3tablespoons salsa pureed. Measured 1/4 cup into individual bowls and a small sprinkle of mozzarella on top. Yummy!

The ricotta bake is so popular in my house that I have been making full size servings for the family. Haha They love it.

One thing my dietician told me was to only use canned chicken, or boil my own. She said baked/fried is too fibrous for puréed or soft stages. She also said when I start soft foods (next Monday) to only eat mushy carrots, green beans, or instant potatoes. For fruit, only peaches or pears in their own juice.

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

16 minutes ago, Greekmom4 said:

@ShoppGirl I used mild salsa in my refried Beans. One can Beans and 3tablespoons salsa pureed. Measured 1/4 cup into individual bowls and a small sprinkle of mozzarella on top. Yummy!

The ricotta bake is so popular in my house that I have been making full size servings for the family. Haha They love it.

One thing my dietician told me was to only use canned chicken, or boil my own. She said baked/fried is too fibrous for puréed or soft stages. She also said when I start soft foods (next Monday) to only eat mushy carrots, green beans, or instant potatoes. For fruit, only peaches or pears in their own juice.

That to funny that the family is enjoying it too. I told you guys it was good. Once we can eat real food we can add veggies and even some chicken or Turkey sausage into it too. I like it with turkey sausage and onions and peppers or chicken with zucchini and onions. I just thought about it and I bet spinach is good too but never tried that one.

Thanks for some guidance to get me started on the soft food phase. I am such a stickler for the rules type person that when it comes to something like this I don’t like it when they don’t give me many. I get so scared. I was fine with the sleeve whatever I did worked because I heard fine but I remember it being nerve wracking even back then. I wonder if rotisserie chicken would be okay if you get it right when it’s done. They seem to be pretty moist then. I wouldn’t do it because the next day it’s not moist enough and it’s just me and my hubby so there would be so much left over it would be a waste but if you have a family to feed it may work.

Boiling it is a great idea. I had to do that for my dog for a while because her kidneys were bad and she wouldn’t eat. Then we started doing fluids every two days and it was like doggy dialysis and she got better for a while before she passed. Anyways, it was really tender and moist that way. I have also heard from so many people on here that chicken thigh is more moist than breasts.

Edited August 23 by ShoppGirl

[Justarwaxx 51]

10 hours ago, Hiddenroses said:

Hello again everyone! I'll start by saying I'm sorry it takes me so long to post my responses. This is because while I do skim posts from my phone, especially when I see an email that has me tagged I find it so much easier to type and properly respond from my desktop computer. So - If I 'Like' a post' just know I'll likely later mention something in one of my long summarized posts, like this one!

Yesterday was exhausting for me; I slept poorly Tuesday night due to heartburn and tenderness on the left hand side. I did get a few things done yesterday, though, including making it to Walmart finally to get my returns processed. I'm not sure why I thought I'd need extra bandages and such after my surgery, but I didn't. That said, after reviewing the cost of canned Soups and canned chicken, I decided just to buy a rotisserie chicken! Honestly, that's proven to be easier and more economical because after deboning it there is plenty of flavorful chicken to either puree into chicken salad or puree with chicken broth and some canned peas/carrots as a kind of 'no noodle' soup!

I also had a ridiculous epiphany this morning - cooking and straining our fruits BEFORE mixing them with yogurt or ricotta works WAY BETTER! This should have been obvious but in my addled mind I've been either 'peeling' the strawberries, or like this morning I thought I'd put the whole blueberry yogurt smoothie through the metal screen to strain and hey - that worked POORLY! Lol - silly the illogical things we do at times, eh? Or maybe it's just me, idk!

Oh - I ALSO realized yesterday evening, when I had basically zero energy nor desire to mess with dinner but still was far short of my Protein goal that I hadn't started taking the collagen yet that I bought to help my hair, skin, and nails. Lo and behold when I scoped it out (I ordered Nature Target Multi-Collagen Peptides from Amazon) that one scoop DOES have 9g of Protein! I truly felt like I was cheating the system when I poured a scoop in about 4oz of Gatorade Zero, Orange and called that my dinner.< br />
I'm not sure what caused me to sleep better last night - the fact that I held/hugged a pillow ( Thank you again @draikaina8503 for mentioning the pillow your nursing staff gave you!) against my left side during most movements throughout the day, the fact that I was extremely tired, the relief from hearing from my doctor's office, or just time and healing in general) but I DID sleep well and today has gone more smoothly for me. As of today I'm 17 days post op, about a 1/4 of the way into my two weeks of puree diet.

@ShoppGirl - I haven't noticed about white spots on the tongue after different types of Protein drinks because I've been really aware of any 'filmy texture' so rinse my mouth after each meal, but I do feel like the Ensure is thicker and takes more effort for me to rinse after drinking. Thanks for mentioning the Protein Water! I'm going to look into that to see if it will help me meet my protein goal of 60g/day.

@draikaina8503 - I haven't noticed much as far as skin sensitivity goes although my bruises from where they stuck me have taken an AGE to heal! I've been worried about you and hope that the incident with your doggo didn't leave you with any lasting damage (I may see a post about that later as I read). Are you taking collagen Peptides by chance? I noticed one of the Youtubers who documented their own surgery journey dealt with breakouts afterward while taking Collagen and wondered if maybe it was impurities being purged from their skin as a result of the Collagen itself. If not I'd definitely mention it to your surgeon and double check (not that I think you'd miss anything since you seem VERY thorough) that some ingredient you're intolerant to hasn't snuck its way into your routine.

Update: Oh good, I'm glad you got some reassurance from your physician's office. Wow - congratulations on the return to school! The start date is rolling right up, isn't it?! Yeah, timing - eesh - I feel ya! Best of luck in finding a comfortable position in which to do your course work, and the energy to tackle everything at once! So far though it looks like you're nailing it and no reason to think that success won't keep right on coming!

Oh - and yeah, I guess I AM blessed to have been given this little bottle of Hibiclens! I had noticed that there was one of those tubs in my hospital room when I got ready to check out and there was another bottle of it in there as well as a couple of 'No rinse' Shampoo caps. I snagged everything out of it - figured if my insurance was paying for it, I was gonna grab it for possible later use! I wish I could hand you this extra bottle, honestly!

@Pepper_No_Salt - Wow; goodness! Yeah; honestly it sounds like you're doing way too much! I'm only just now starting to feel up to helping load the dishwasher, and today I managed to slowly sort through the clothing in my chest of drawers for size/quality of condition. Even then, I had to have my fella open the drawers for me because it's older and they stick a bit, plus pulling anything makes me tender, much less bending and pulling at the same time! I can't IMAGINE trying to tackle everything you just listed at this stage.

I know we all heal at different rates but my surgeon's office told me yesterday that the pain *I* have been mainly experiencing, a pulling/tugging on my left side, can take up to a month or two to recover from. She said to remember that despite how the surface appears to have healed that there is a LOT of repair and healing happening internally. She also said that as frustrating as it is to just try to be patient with myself because the body is adjusting in a lot of ways between not getting hardly any carbs, learning to get its energy from different sources, i.e. stored fat, processing our intake of protein/water differently, and literally healing multiple organs (for me, SADI, intestines and stomach from the sleeve portion) and that takes a lot out of a person.

@Justarwaxx - Oh my goodness, that sounds VERY anxiety inducing! This is your body and your journey, I absolutely suggest contacting your surgeon's office to see if they can send you some kind of guideline on what to be doing at your different stages. Also, I will be honest - that sounds like a lot of calories to be intaking during your liquid diet and I can't help but wonder if you're drinking maybe the wrong particular Protein Shake? I don't say that because I think you SHOULD worry about calories specifically but you DO need to worry about sugar intake. I got tripped up because my surgeon's team gave me a booklet guide for the whole process and I'm not supposed to drink any Protein Shakes that have less than 15g of Protein and more than 5g of sugar. The protein shakes are deceptive as heck, though!

Example: The off brand Equate ones I got are Max Protein with 30g of Protein and less than 1g of sugar, and one time I accidentally bought their Protein Plus which had 20g of sugar in each one! They tasted great - but at the cost of all that sugar it was a hard pass!

Also if you are drinking regular Gatorade or Powerade I could see that being a factor; I'm on Zero Sugar for my non-protein beverages. I can totally see how you'd feel at a loss - I spent 10 months working up to my surgery (because I had to quit smoking, etc) and I still feel like I'm winging it. If your surgeon's team didn't mention it, I will - there is an app called Baritastic that is free on the Google Play Store. You can scan the items you intake or search them on the 'Food Log' and it usually pulls up the correct information and lets you put what percent of the listed serving size you consumed. I do suggest checking at least one time to make sure it's pulling up the correct information that matches the Nutrition Facts listed on the item. After that it will be recorded in your 'Recent' list and you can just choose it easily that way.

Baritastic also has a built in Timer for 30 minutes you can use to track when you stop drinking and can start drinking after a meal - once you're past the liquid stage and move on to meals that's pretty important across the board as far as I know. The 'No drinking 30 minutes before, during, or after a meal' is important because due to the adjusted size of your stomach it can only fit a certain amount, and you could get overly full of Water before or after a meal otherwise, leading to you being sick to your stomach or feeling miserable overall.

Honestly, I've been setting a timer when I sit down at my computer as well so I don't get absorbed in what I'm doing and sit for too long. That's been helpful! Best of healing and well wishes to you all - Oh, finally updated my ticker but bummed I can't put 'SADI' as my surgery type. Oh well!

Adding: The Finch App continues to help me navigate these waters, big time. I open my free Finch app (Also on the Google Play App store) more often then I open Facebook or any social media. Taking care of that silly cute cartoon bird and getting rewarded for taking care of MY personal business is such a benefit to someone like me who is almost certainly ADHD/Autistic at some level. I even use it to remind me to log my food/liquid intake in Baritastic. OH and I did make solid contact with the testing center I've been on a wait list with - looks like I'll at least be able to get in to a counselor soon, though I'm still on the wait list for actual Autism testing.

Ok - that's all for now!

Hi hi x

The protien powder and premade are all approved. Low cals and less than 2g of sugar so that's good and also my protien soy milk is less than 2g sugar so it fits the criteria and since inputting all that I eat n drink on MFP, I am mindful but alil more guidance would be appreciated. On Sunday (first day of the week here) I'll try to get in touch and demand some attention from either surgical team or anyone!

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

I am starting to think that for the first month that the NP should just call all the post op patients like every few days. Seems like I have a new question everyday!! Today I want to know if it’s okay to just add soluable Fiber because I am still having issues with Constipation. Which is pretty odd since everyone warned me about the diarrhea that’s so common with SADI. Anyways, I continually take the two stool softeners daily but it still takes the milk of magnesia to make me go. Then I’m go the next day okay but then nothing for a couple of days until I do the milk of magnesia again and it starts over. I’m certain I need fiber but i don’t want to make things worse so I called to ask just in case.

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

Just went to the grocery and got MUSH overnight oats and of course I had to purée them down a little further but they are really good. Now that I look my book says instant oatmeal. Guess I need to ask before I have it.

Edited August 23 by ShoppGirl

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

I know I really need Fiber and I am scared to even do the instant oats because it says strained and I’m not sure if that means I can only have the liquid or what. Decided to make purée cauliflower. I made 1/2 cup and added a scoop of GENEPRO. So my 1/4 cup Has 5.5g Protein but more importantly it has some fiber.

Edited August 23 by ShoppGirl

[Hiddenroses 85]

21 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

I know I really need Fiber and I am scared to even do the instant oats because it says strained and I’m not sure if that means I can use have the liquid or what. Decided to make purée cauliflower. I made 1/2 cup and added a scoop of GENEPRO. So my 1/4 cup Has 5.5g Protein but more importantly it has some Fiber.

I didn't have any trouble with instant oatmeal other than realizing after the fact that it sort of swells after you eat it? You seem to have a good handle on things and checking with your doctor for your specific needs is of course best - my only input is that the second time I had it I opted to eat 2oz less and felt MUCH better afterward. I still pureed it and made it thin. Best of luck and good healing to you!

[Hiddenroses 85]

10 hours ago, Justarwaxx said:

Hi hi x

The protien powder and premade are all approved. Low cals and less than 2g of sugar so that's good and also my protien soy milk is less than 2g sugar so it fits the criteria and since inputting all that I eat n drink on MFP, I am mindful but alil more guidance would be appreciated. On Sunday (first day of the week here) I'll try to get in touch and demand some attention from either surgical team or anyone!

Fantastic! As I said before, I really wouldn't focus so much on calories as long as your sugar and fat intake remain on the lower end and your Protein is between 40-60g/day for a female, aiming for 60g but not overeating to achieve it. I know my surgeon told me the #1 goal is to go slowly, space out meals with the no drinking 30 mins before and after, and to stop eating as soon as you begin feeling even a little full with goal during this stage probably being less than 4-6oz/meal between food and any broth/shake/etc, and that sometimes you'll feel full and content at less and that's ok.

[ShoppGirl 4,335]

Not sure if anyone else is in desperate need of variety of healthy food but I know if I’m gonna stick to this this time around I need to be able to have more meat and veggies. Anyways I Found a really good site for recipes that I thought I would share in case anyone is interested. There are some shake and purée recipes but mostly regular and soft foods There also isn’t much organization to it but there are pages and pages of recipes and some look really good….to me at least. It’s bariatricfoodie.com